Portable barrel-platform



(No Model.)

W. A. S ITH. PORTABLE BARREL PLATFORM.

Patented Apr. 27', 1897.

BY Anuyy ATTY'S.

UNITED STATE ATENT FFICE.

\VILLIAM A. SMITH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

PORTABLE BARREL-PLATFORM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581 ,409, dated April 27, 1897.

Application filed October 31, 1895. Serial No. 567,529. (No model.)

To (,tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at New ark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Barrel-Platforms and I do hereby declare the following to be a.

full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The objects of this invention are to facilitate the operation of placing barrels or casks from which the liquid contents are to be drawn through their cocks or spigots in elevated and upright positions on their ends convenient for such drawing, to provide a more substantial and durable platform,to reduce the cost of construction, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which will be hereinafter referred to in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved portable barrel-platform and in the arrangements and combination of parts of the same, all of which will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the barrel and the barrel-platform when in position for raising the former so that it will stand end downward upon the latter. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modified construction. Fig. 3 is a plan of the platform when the latter is .in position as a platform, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of saidplatform. Fig. 5 is a view of a claw for catching a certain chime-chain. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective of a lever-like handle. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of a guide for the inner end of said handle, and Fig. 8 is another modified form of the platform sometimes preferred.

ther end of the barrel to the handle and the lower end upon the platform in caught relation to the nose-pieces when lifting the said bar'rel upon the platform.

The said platform is peculiar in that it is provided with four legs or supporing-bearings g g on the under side, which are adapted to engage the floor when the platform is in its normal barrel-holding position, the rear legs, however, being preferably a little forward of the rear side or end of the platform and the lower rearward corners being rounded or beveled off, as indicated in the side elevations at g On the inner sides of the rearward legs adjacent to said rounded corners are pivoted upon bolts or upon any other form of pivots the wheels 0 c, the peripheries of which project beyond the rounded or beveled edges 9, but lie at their lower parts on the line of or a little above the line of the floor when the platform is in the normally upright position of Fig. 4. By this arrangement the platform is firm and stable when in said normal position, but when tilted backward a little the wheels 0 will take the weight and admit of an easy transportation of the platform, as will be apparent.

Upon the upper side of the platform, back from the forward edge of the same, are the nose-pieces 6. These are separate and apart from one another, so as to allow the barrel to sink between and prevent lateral rolling of the barrel as it is being lifted upon the support. In addition to these separate nosings back from the edge of the platform I may employ an edge nosing c, Fig. 2, to catch the barrel should it slip from the nosings 6 While being lifted.

At the forward part of the platform, below the plane of the top plate 6 thereof, are.arranged ears h, adapted to receive a key-pin h, and between which is disposed the removable handle cl. Said handle extends rearward underneath the top plate of the platform and enters a socket or rearward bearing 7;, provided therefor, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Guides 1' 7 may be employed to lead the end I in position by thrusting the key or pin h through said ears and bar the support or pl atform is ready to be tilted to bring the nosepieces beneath the barrel. The handle (1 is provided, preferably, with a hooked collarj, to which the chime-chain f and its hook f are attached. These extend to the upper or farther end of the barrel, catching on the chime thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The hook may be caught into the links of the chain, or preferably the hook may be in the form of a claw, as in Fig. 5, and the chain may be caught between the fingers thereof.

Instead of having solid or integral supporting-bearings for the platform, as in Fig. 4, in some cases I prefer that all the bearings be wheels, as in Fig. 8. Here the rearward bearing-wheels are arranged on a cross-bar, and the forward bearings are casters, allowing of lateral movement of said platform and its load. In this figure also I show a construction preferred when the platform is to be employed with heavy casks, such as of molasses. Here the leverage is increased by extending the side boards b" above the top plate I) at the rear and continuing the curved rearward edge above said plate, thus inereasing the purchase, so that less power is required in lifting, as will be understood.

In operating the device the handle is simply keyed in position and the platform tilted thereby and brought to the position indicated in full line in Fig. 1, the 110se-pieees being arranged beneath or outside of the chime of one end of the barrel. The chain and hooks are arranged to connect the opposite end of the barrel and said handle, also as shown, and the handle is then drawn downward, and the platform turns on its rounded corner-bearings, so that the barrel is lifted and stands endwise on the platform. lVhen the wheels are brought into play, the said platform and its load may be transported to the place selected for storage. After coming to this position the platform and its handle is turned still farther downward and the integral legs are brought into engagement with the floor or the four wheels all brought in firm supporting relation. The handle is then unkeyed and removed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- The improved port-able platform herein described, comprising a platform I), having the side boards 1)", b, curved as at g, nose-pieces e, 0, forward ears h, a rearward socket 'II, and guides 1i, i, extending from said ears to said socket, a pin for fastening the handle between said ears, a lever-like handle having a hook and a chain having a chime-hook, all said parts being arranged and combined, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of October, 1895.

WILLIAM A. SMITH.

lV i tnesses:

OLIVER DRAKE, CHARLES H. FELL. 

